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People power can save dolphins. Secretary of Commerce William Daley is expected to decide before March is over whether to defy the World Trade Organization and maintain the integrity of "dolphin safe" labeling, which Congress voted to rescind in favor of a weak-kneed version that would allow dolphins to be chased and encircled with nets in pursuit of the even more unfortunate tuna. Write Secretary Daley letting him know that you do not want to see tuna caught by harassing dolphins on the shelves of American grocery stores. Ask him to retain the full protection of the Dolphin Safe Tuna Act of 1990. Request that your letter be added to the official record on this issue. Send a copy to President Clinton who has not interceded for dolphins. Try also to write to the three tuna companies which have done such a fine job eliminating fishing methods that are harmful to dolphins, complimenting them on a job well done and asking them to maintain their present standard of performance.

William Daley, Secretary of Commerce Copy to: President Bill Clinton

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Ontario is first Canadian province to cancel spring bear hunt in order to prevent cubs from being orphaned when their mothers are killed by mistake. Natural resources Minister John Snobelen said it was the only way to prevent mother bears from being shot when they emerge hungry and weak from their dens after hibernation.

Despite plans to compensate outfitters who have to cancel existing reservations, there has been a steady uproar of protests from the hunting community: government knuckling under to animal rights proponents; erosion of God-given right to hunt; economic collapse of hunting communities (in spite of compensatory longer fall bear-killing season); taking bread out of children's mouths, etc.

Arch hunter/killer Ted Nugent tried to turn what sounded more like a juvenile schoolyard brawl into an international crisis by calling for Americans to boycott the evil country to the north that would deprive hunters of the opportunity to kill bears in the spring.

Orangutan survivors of devastating Indonesian fires are slowly being returned to the wild in Borneo. A group of 12 was released early in February followed by a group of 10 near the end of the month. Isolated animals, barely subsisting in patches of forest surrounded by burnt out areas, are still being rescued and rehabilitated. Indonesian Ministry of Forestry workers have been extinguishing coal fires ever since the rains began. So far they have dug out over 40, but still have 30 more to go. If they do not succeed before the advent of the next dry season, it is feared that the devastating conflagration will begin all over again. Political unrest and logging of remaining forest also threaten this besieged species.

Buffalo Bill introduced in Montana State Legislature. State Representative Gail Gutsche has filed HB 643 which would greatly improve Montana's terrible treatment of wild buffalo who wander outside Yellowstone National Park in winter in search of food. The bill would transfer management of the buffalo from the Department of Livestock (DOL) to the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks; forbid state from selling buffalo to slaughterhouses; mandate observation of APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) precautions for preventing possible (but unlikely) transmission of brucellosis from buffalo to cows (e.g. 30 day period to separate use of land by buffalo and cows); and recognize affinity of Native Americans with remaining buffalo. Buffalo People have tried to protect the animals from capture by DOL. Individuals have occupied platforms suspended from giant tripods through nights with temperatures as low as 50 degrees below zero in order to block access to proposed capture pens.

<http://www.wildrockies.ORG>

Two deer hunters down with "mad cow" disease. Creuzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), the human form of this transmissible encepha-lopathy, usually strikes people late in life because of its long incubation period. The bovine form, first recognized in humans in Britain, tends to hit people under 40. A 30-year-old deer hunter in Utah is gravely ill, and the disease has been diagnosed in a 27-year-old deer hunter in Oklahoma. The disease has been detected in American deer, elk, mink and squirrels. There is concern that "downer" (unable to rise) cows may be afflicted with a different form of the disease. CJD has been detected in human patients previously diagnosed as suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Altogether worrisome.

Sea otter numbers are declining in Monterey Bay. A fall survey by marine biologists found this population had declined by 12% within the preceding year. They are washing up dead on shore at the rate of about nine a month. Biologists are pointing fingers at the increasing use of crab pots, an east-coast fishing device. Fishermen deny these devices pose any possible harm to otters. Meanwhile, the earth's seas seem to be getting sicker as their warmer water harbors ever heavier loads of human pathogens and viruses. About 10% of the coral reefs have died according to one estimate and "up to 70%" are in danger.

Marine animals dying off Mexico in increased numbers. A variety of unexplained deaths in Mexico's Gulf of California: c. 180 sea

lions, 20 gray whales, 17 sea turtles, as well as dolphins and birds have been found dead during the past year. Mexican environmentalists are looking at a salt plant, a phosphate plant, and mining activities as well as the use of cyanide to mark illegal drug drops. These deaths might possibly help with efforts to prevent Mitsubishi from establishing another salt operation in a popular whale calving lagoon.

Bill to stop fur farming has passed second reading in House of Commons. The bill provides compensation for the country's remaining 13 fur farmers. Brits were recently upset by a graphic television program provided by the Humane Society of the United States showing the horrible conditions of confinement, and dogs and cats being brutally restrained and skinned alive in China. The film should help efforts to stamp out the sale of dog and cat fur outside of China.

Australians for Animals has announced a boycott of Washington apples to protest Washington Senator Slade Gorton's refusal to oppose federal support for Makah whale hunt. The Sea Defense Alliance, composed of organizations and individuals from the three Pacific coast states, and over one million people worldwide are promoting the boycott. The apple-growers are caught in the middle.

Two of five lynx released in Colorado's San Juan Mountains have died from starvation despite a plentiful population of snowshoe hares. The adult female and juvenile male, translocated from British Columbia, were part of a program to restore this formerly native species to the area. A lynx was last seen in the state near Vail in 1973. State wildlife officials plan to release another 50 lynx in the spring and possibly another 50 next winter. They also have plans to release 110 wildcats over the next two years.

Florida now home to 73 whooping cranes. Biologists have always worried that the only flock of whooping cranes might be struck by a natural disaster, such as a hurricane, on their migration. To ensure the species' survival, they have established another flock. It is not known, however, whether these birds will migrate to northern US or Canada come summer. One is reminded of the problems caused by the proliferation of non-migratory Canada geese created by wildlife managers to furnish more geese for hunters to kill.

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